Australia battles bushfires as heatwave continues

New South Wales endures severe off-the-scale' blaze amid a record-breaking heatwave that has sparked dire warnings.

12 Feb 2017 11:36 GMT

More than 2,000 firefighters battled 86 fires across the state [EPA]

Australian authorities ordered the evacuation of some rural areas of New South Wales as bushfires, fanned by extreme heat and strong winds, raged across the state.

By Sunday afternoon, emergency warnings were issued for five rural areas. People were told to evacuate if they could, or seek shelter and avoid bush or grassland where it was too late to leave.

More than 2,000 firefighters, many of them volunteers, battled 86 fires across the state, with 38 of them still largely out of control.

A heatwave saw temperatures hit record highs in some parts of the state, creating conditions that officials said were worse than those preceding Victoria's 2009 "Black Saturday" fires, Australia's worst bush fire event that killed 173 people.

"This is the worst day we have seen in the history of New South Wales when it comes to fire danger ratings and fire conditions," Shane Fitzsimmons, the state's rural fire chief, told reporters.